Another 57 die in floods across country

SUKKUR: Nearly 57 people have died in 24 hours as the floods ravaged the country, according to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). According to NDMA of the total figure, 38 alone lost their lives in Sindh, 17 in KP and one each in Balochistan and AJK.

As the floods continued to wreak havoc in various cities of Sindh, Deputy Commissioner Qamber-Shahdadkot (retd) Captain Abid Ali issued a flood threat alert for Warrah city asking the residents to move to safer places. The DC, in the threat alert, advised the citizens to vacate Warrah city and the adjoining villages to avoid any mishap. 

He said that the hill torrents from Khirthar mountains and Balochistan were advancing fast towards the Warrah city, adding that breaches in the Saline Nullah also caused the flooding in the Warrah city. Following the threat alert, the citizens headed for Qamber Road, which is the only safe road for travelling.

Respectively, the Faiz Gunj city of Khairpur district was also inundated, prompting the citizens to shift to Karachi and other cities. The water level in district Dadu continued to rise on Friday as the overall death toll from the devastating floods, which have affected millions across the country, crossed 1,200. The devastation is now spreading southwards, with floodwater gushing towards Manchar Lake and Johi city in Dadu.

Alam Rahpoto, the superintending engineer at the Sindh Irrigation Department, said 10,000 to 15,000 cusecs were being discharged from the Manchar Lake into River Indus on Friday morning, while 70,000 to 80,000 cusecs of water was flowing into the lake from the Main Nara Valley drain and flood protection (FP) Bund, a flood protective dyke. “The water level in the lake is rising rapidly but all the protective dykes are strong,” he added. He said there was a high-level flood in the River Indus in Dadu district, adding: “There is a high-level flood in the river at the Dadu-Moro bridge.”

Separately, Deputy Commissioner Dadu Syed Murtaza Shah said the relief and rescue efforts were underway in the area. The Pakistan Army, Rangers and district administration are jointly carrying out the relief work, he said, adding that the military and the district administration had also launched a rescue operation in the Katcha (riverine) areas.

According to the reports, Sita Kolhi, mother of three children, was crushed to death due to the collapse of the house wall in the village of Mirpurkhas near Khanpur Mahar in Ghotki. Besides, a 12-year-old boy, Ikram, son of Abdul Aziz Pitafi, drowned in the rainwater. A 73-year-old retired teacher in the UC Jhangara of Sehwan, Meevoo Khan Khaskhali drowned in the floodwater, while five-year-old Zahid Golo and six-year-old girl Moti Golo also drowned in Shafi Muhammad Khoso village of Kandhkot.

A 10-year-old boy, son of Talib Hussain, drowned near Kandiaro in the rainwater. Ashiq Ali, s/o Mohammad Saleh Bhat, drowned in the rainwater. A resident of UC Shah Panju area of Mehar and a 12-year-old girl, Tanya, drowned in the strong current of the river by slipping into it. Haji Nazir Jaisar from Bago Dero died after drowning into the floodwater. Three-year-old Yasin drowned in the village of Sain Bakhsh Khoso near Qazi Ahmed, 13-year-old Javed drowned in the village of Ali Raza Khoso, and four-year-old Roushna, d/o Ejaz Koso, drowned in the rainwater near Qazi Ahmed, while senior teacher Ghulam Sarwar Mahar drowned due to the collapse of the roof of his house in the village of Abdul Majeed Mahar near Qazi Ahmed.

Meanwhile, Bhawan Das Meghwar told the media, “Along with the collapse of houses, the temple of Rama Pir, the Samadhi of Sant Adoo Ram and the graveyard is under deep water. So far no tent has been provided, no food has been delivered, and no arrangements have been made to drain out the flood water.” Another resident of Sant Nagar, Kishore Kumar, said: “Water has been drained out from different parts of the city, but the administration is treating us with discrimination.” All the residents demanded the city and district administrations and the provincial government remove the water immediately to save the poor from further damage.

He said all the muddy houses and furniture were destroyed during the rains and floodwater, adding that due to the standing water of four feet, the remaining houses also started to collapse, however, the administration is still showing carelessness. The minority community of Gambat said four feet of floodwater, accumulated for ten days, causing havoc in Sant Nagar Meghwar Mohallah of Gambat in Khairpur. They complained that the Khairpur district administration was treating them as second-class citizens, as no one from the administration bothered to help them. They said that such a discriminatory attitude of the authorities of Khairpur was against the fundamental rights of the minorities.

Meanwhile, the provincial minister for Education and Culture, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, expressed concern that the number of drop-out children could be over two million as the floods caused massive destruction in the affected areas.In a meeting with the deputy commissioner, senior superintendent of police and representatives of the United Nations International Children’s Fund and various welfare organisations, Sardar Shah said that an education emergency has been imposed in the province to deal with the losses. He said that besides the ongoing relief activities, there was a need to save education and make sure that the expected dropouts did not happen.